


✓seen at 03:32

by Elymais



Series: BotW University AU Shorts [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Academia, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Language, F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elymais/pseuds/Elymais
Summary: Sometimes, texting cute boys requires a bit of extra courage; fortunately, it conveniently comes in bottles.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: BotW University AU Shorts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018251
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	✓seen at 03:32

Zelda opened her eyes to greet the throbbing in her head and the little bedroom that was lazily spinning about her, illuminated by the sunlight creeping through the single window. With a squint, she peered about, moving as few of her muscles as possible to abate the onset of the inevitable hangover which she knew would come rolling over her any minute. On her computer desk, a still-open bottle of amarula stood next to a half-full tumbler beside her laptop.

Which was _on_.

"Shit," she hissed as she rolled face-first from her bed onto the floor. Scrambling up from the mass of bedsheets that followed her, she leapt up to see what kind of mess she'd left for herself to uncover. Her eyes looked to the clock — _14:53_. " _Shit_ ," she repeated as her eyes darted up to an open window in the upper left corner of ther screen. There lay HyChat™ open.

The last outbound message?

 _03:32_.

To whom?

 _Link_.

Zelda sank into her computer chair, placed her head in her hands, hauled a deep sigh, and said from the very bottom of her heart: " ** _Fuck_**." She held still for a time, taking a few deep breaths and rubbing her temples before daring to read what she had written in an inebriated state. Rolling her chair forward, she reached out to her keyboard and mouse, but her hand bumped the open bottle, knocking it off the edge of the desk and onto the floor. _Glug-glug-glug_ went the sticky caramelesque liqueur across the tile floor as Zelda watched blankly. She wanted to intervene, but her hands were apparently far from the controls at this point, and so she could only watch the founder of her hangover paint itself like an abstract painting in the middle of her room. When the bottle ceased to issue forth and the amarula ceased to run, she let out a deep, defeated sigh for the state of her morning.

She looked back at her laptop with bleary eyes. They failed to focus on the text on the screen, and after she found that even subtle squinting made her horrendous headache only ever angrier, Zelda made the executive decision to pass it up until she'd gathered the mop and bucket.

Opening her bedroom door into the common kitchen, she reached across the gang to the mop and dragged it by the handle, pulling the bucket across the floor with it. She stopped with the realisation that, without any water, the mop was of little use. With a groan, she lifted the mop out of its bucket and sat it aside, placing the bucket in the washbasin and opening the tap.

"Rough night?"

Zelda leapt, nearly knocking the bucket aside. There stood Mipha, holding a cup of tea in both hands.

"There's enough water in the kettle for a second cup. Chamomile will help with the nauseation."

"Oh, I didn't, you know-" Zelda motioned to indicate the act of vomiting, but the motion of it caused her to wretch audibly. " _Shit_ , maybe I shan't do that," she said, shaking her head.  
"Chamomile," repeated Mipha with a friendly smile.

Zelda nodded in agreement, and lowered her eyes away from the light as the mop bucket filled in the basin. The pounding in her head was relentless.

"Everything alright?"

"Hm?" Zelda looked up. The bucket had filled to the top and was now spilling over into the basin. She closed the tap and poured a bit out, then slid the bucket across the tile into her bedroom door. "Oh, yeah, all's well in the Kingdom. Peaches and Cream all."

"I won't pry," replied Mipha with a nod.

Zelda sighed. "I'm sorry to be so short with you. I'm off to a somewhat shaky start this morning."

"Afternoon," replied Mipha.

"Afternoon," echoed Zelda. "Right."

"If there's anything I can do-"

"I know, and I won't hesitate," said Zelda, cutting her off. "Right now, I just want to wipe up this amarula and lie back down."

"Ah, amarula," said Mipha with a chuckle. "I've heard that one's quite good, but quite strong."

"Well, long I'd heard but now I've seen," said Zelda with a shrug. Mipha giggled a bit. Zelda would have echoed her, but her head was throbbing, so she closed with a smile and retreated back to her room to find the puddle of liqueur in exactly the same spot she left it. With a _shlorp_ , she dipped the head of the mop into the bucket and gave it a twist, then knelt and wrung it out imperfectly. _Slap_ — the wet tendrils of the mop spread out in the amarula puddle. Working inefficiently and with her eyes wandering over to her laptop upon which HyChat™ still lay open, she slowly mopped up the spill.

Laying the mop aside, she sat back down in her computer chair. She squinted to read the messages from the previous night, but still couldn't make them out.

"Where the devil are my-" she began to mumble audibly before spotting her glasses across the desk. Placing them on her face and brushing her hair back, she leant in to examine the damage.

— _heyyyyy~_  
02:12

'Oh, lovely,' she thought, reading her own drunk text. 'This cannot end well.'

— _Hey lol, sorry just saw this_  
02:48

— _lollll no worrires_  
02:51

— _Lol, you're up a bit late arent you?_  
— _aren't**_  
02:58

— _yeahhhhh lol_  
— _yos can blame Skyem for that lol_  
03:00

She tabbed over to her gaming app. _Skyrim: last played: today at 02:50_. 'Damn it, Todd Howard,' she muttered.

 _—Having a drink or something?_  
03:05

[attached file]  
03:06

Zelda stared at the selfie, tumbler in one hand, with a wink. 'Why can't I be this charming all the time?'

 _—Awèh lol, looks like you're playing it to win tonight_  
03:07

 _—u kno it bb lol_  
03:09

 _—Lol_  
03:11

A gap in the timestamps. That would have been a safe place to end the conversation, but after a twenty minute silence, the messages picked up for one last burst.

 _—so do you wanna hang out this weekend_  
03:29

 _—Yeah, lekker! I'm busy tomorrow but Sunday we can meet up whenevs_  
_—I'm getting into bed as we speak so I'll ttyl lol, lekker slaap_  
03:31

 _—cant wait lol lekker slaap_  
✓seen at 03:32

Zelda stared dumbstruck at the screen for a very long moment before she breathed a sigh of relief. She stood, walked over to her bed, and flopped face down. "Thank **_fuck_** ," she whispered, melting back into hangover sleep.


End file.
